Crash
by LizzieHouse
Summary: A mysterious entity causes a United Britannia flight 2485 to crash. Sam, Dean, and Maria Winchester rush to solve the mystery before the thing strikes again. Based on the Phantom Traveler episode of Supernatural.
1. Chapter 1

Dean and Maria Winchester are fast asleep. Dean is splayed out on his stomach and Maria is curled up, gripping the sheets tightly in her hand. They both hear the door to their motel room open. Dean reaches under his pillow for his weapon and they both turn to look at the intruder.

"Morning, sunshines," Sam calls cheerfully, carrying coffee and pastries, closing the door with his foot.

"What time is it?" Maria asks, rubbing her eyes.

"Uh, it's about 5:45," Sam answers.

"In the morning?" Dean moans.

"Yep," Sam replies.

"Where does the day go?" Dean says. He and Maria sit up slowly and take their coffee from their younger brother.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Maria asks Sam, taking a small sip of the steaming liquid.

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours," Sam replied easily.

"Liar," Maria calls him out. "Cause me and Dean were up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial."

"Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV," Sam says with a smile.

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asks, not at all amused.

"I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, it is," Maria and Dean reply in unison.

"Look, I appreciate your concern-" Sam begins, but Dean cuts him off.

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. That's Maria's thing," Dean says, nudging his sister in the ribs lightly with his elbow. Maria rolls her eyes. "It's your job to keep our asses alive, so I need you sharp."

Sam just shrugs, but Maria plays the concerned older sister.

"Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?"

"Yeah, but it's not just her," Sam says, crossing the room to sit on his bed, "It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job, it gets to you."

"You can't let it," Dean says simply, taking a sip of his coffee. "You can't bring it home like that."

"So…what?" Sam asks, genuinely interested, "All of this… it never keeps you up at night?"

Dean and Maria both shake their heads. Maria takes another sip of her coffee, desperate to fully wake up.

"Never," Sam replies skeptically, "You two are never afraid?"

"No, not really," Maria replies honestly, shrugging her shoulders. Sam reaches a hand underneath Dean's pillow and pulls out his large hunting knife, holding it up to his siblings. Dean smirks and takes the knife back.

"That's not fear," Dean says, still smirking. "That's precaution."

"All right, whatever," Sam replies, exhausted. "I'm too tired to argue."

Dean's cellphone starts ringing. He reaches for it on the bedside table and answers it."

"Hello?" Dean answers. Maria and Sam listen to the conversation, but can only hear Dean's side. "Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing. It's not back is it?"

Maria shudders, remembering that particular hunt. She, Dean, and their father had helped out a man named Jerry Panowski, and his family with their poltergeist problem. Maria still had the scar of the large X that thing had carved into the flesh of her back.

"What is it? Yeah, yeah, sure, Jerry," Dean says. He hangs up the phone and looks at his brother and sister.

"What's up?" Maria asks, slightly nervous about the answer. She isn't afraid of poltergeists, but she would really rather not have to deal with one again for a while. Her back can only take so much damage. "Please tell me that damn poltergeist isn't back."

"No, no, it isn't. Don't worry," Dean replies, remembering that hunt all too well. "But it's the same guy. He wants to talk in person."

"Okay, then. Let's hit the road," Sam says, eager for a hunt to take his mind off of things.

* * *

Sam, Dean, and Maria arrive at the hangar to meet Jerry. Dean parks the Impala and they all pile out, Jerry was waiting for them.

"Thanks for making the trip so quick," Jerry says, shaking Dean, Maria, and Sam's hands individually. He turns and starts walking toward his office. The siblings follow. "I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean, Maria, and your dad really helped me out."

"Yeah, they told me," Sam says with a small smile. "It was a poltergeist?"

"_Poltergeist_?" a worker exclaims. "Man, I loved that movie."

"Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking," Jerry says to his employee. He then turns back to the Winchester siblings. "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something, if it wasn't for you two and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?"

"Yeah, I was," Sam replies, then hesitates, "I'm—taking some time off."

"Well, he was real proud of you, I could tell," Jerry says briskly. "He talked about you all the time."

"He did?" Sam was surprised. He thought his father was anything but proud of him.

"Yeah, you bet he did," Jerry didn't register the honest surprise in Sam's voice. "Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?"

"He's, um, wrapped up in a job right now," Dean says a bit uneasily.

"Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Sam. Even trade, huh," Jerry smiles. Dean and Maria laugh.

"No, not by a long shot," Sam laughs.

"I got something I want you three to hear," Jerry says, opening the door to his office.

Sam, Maria, and Dean enter the office and sit down in the three chairs in front of his desk. Jerry sits in his own chair behind the desk. "I listened to this. And, well, it sounded like it was up your alley. Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours"

Jerry puts a CD in his computer and presses play. The recording starts with the captain's panicked voice: "Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! 2485—immediate instruction….may be experiencing some mechanical failure…" Then a loud WOOSH can be heard and then there is silence.

"Took off from here, crashed about 200 miles south," Jerry starts after the recording has finished. "Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh…well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like he thinks it was his fault."

"You don't think it was?" Maria asks, though it's less of a question and more of a statement.

"No, I don't."

"Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um, a list of survivors…" Sam starts, but Dean finishes for him.

"And, uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?"

"The other stuff is no problem," Jerry says. "But the wreckage…fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way, I've got that kind of clearance."

"No problem," Dean and Maria say in unison, but they both frown.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam and Maria are leaning against the Impala, waiting for Dean to come out of the Copy Jack with their new fake IDs.

"Where is he?" Sam is starting to get impatient, "He's taking forever."

"You can't rush perfection," Maria says with a small smile, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow as Dean comes out of the shop while eyeing the pretty woman walking in.

"You've been in there forever," Sam chastises his older brother as Dean holds up the three IDs.

"You can't rush perfection," Dean replies, handing Sam and Maria their fake IDs. Maria grins and Sam grimaces.

"I cannot believe how alike you two are sometimes. It honestly scares me," Sam says before looking down at his own ID, "Homeland Security? That's pretty illegal, even for us."

"Yeah, well, it's something new, you know? People haven't seen it a thousand times," Dean replies as he hops into the driver's seat of the Impala. Sam sits shotgun and Maria climbs in the back. "All right, so, what do you got?"

"Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder," Sam says, opening up his laptop.

"Yeah," Dean questions, intrigued.

"Listen," Maria says, shoving Sam's shoulder gently, "Play it for him, Sammy."

Sam plays the recording on his laptop. He edited the sound so the EVP is clear. A scratchy voice utters, "No survivors!"

"'No survivors, what's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors," Dean remarks confused.

"Got me," Maria declares, just as confused as her older brother.

"So, what are you thinking, Sammy?" Dean asks, "A haunted flight?"

"There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers," Sam replies.

"Mhmm," Dean and Maria answer together.

"Or remember flight 401?"

"Right," Maria remembers. "The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, and put them in other planes; the spirit of the pilot and co-pilot haunted those flights."

"Right," Sam says.

"Yep," Dean nods.

"Maybe we got a similar deal?" Maria questions.

"All right, so, survivors. Which one do you want to talk to first?" Dean asks Sam, who has picked up the list of passengers from the floor.

"Third on the list, Max Jaffey," Sam points to the name on the paper.

"Why him?" Dean inquires.

"Well, for one, he's from around here," Sam answers. "And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did."

"What makes you say that?" Maria asks.

"Well, I spoke to his mother, and she told me where to find him," Sam says. Dean and Maria nod and Dean starts the car.

They drive to the Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital that Sam mentioned and park out front. They get out of the car and walk inside, flashing their badges to the workers and ask where they can find Max Jaffey. They find him in the garden and show him their badges. Max gets up with assistance from his cane and walks between Sam and Maria, with Dean to Maria's left.

"I don't understand," Max states. "I already spoke with Homeland Security."

"Right," Maria says with kind authority. "Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple questions…"

"Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything…unusual," Sam asks.

"Like what?" Max inquires.

"Strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices," Dean clarifies.

"No, nothing," Max replies as the four of them sit down at a table outside.

"Mr. Joffey-" Maria begins.

"Jaffey," Max corrects her.

"Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?" Maria asks. Max just nods. "Can I ask why?"

"I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash," Max answers.

"Uh huh," Dean says, "And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?"

"I…I don't want to talk about this anymore," Max said a little sadly.

"See, I think maybe you did see something up there," Dean is a bit forceful. "We need to know what."

"No. No, I was…delusional. Seeing things."

"He was seeing things," Dean repeats to Sam and Maria. They both give Dean an exasperated look before Sam turns kindly to Max.

"It's okay. Just tell us what you _thought _you saw, please."

"There was…this—man. And, uh, he had these…eyes—these, uh…black eyes. And I saw him—or I _thought _I saw him…"

"What?" Maria urges kindly.

"He opened the emergency exit," Max finishes. "But that's…that's impossible right? I mean, I looked it up. There's something like two tons of pressure on that door.

"Yeah," Dean and Maria chorus.

"This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly?" Sam questioned, "It would look something like a mirage?"

"What are you, nuts?" Max scoffs. Sam just tilts his head in confusion, "He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me."

Sam, Dean, and Maria look at each other. They thank Max for his time and head back to the Impala. Once inside the car, Sam pulls out the passenger list and finds the man who was sitting in front of Max. He finds the address and Dean drives to the house, pulling up next to the curb and parking.

"So here we are. George Phelps, seat 20C," Sam says as they all look at the very normal suburban home.

"Hmm. Man, I don't care how strong you are," Dean states as they pile out of the car, and walk up the walkway, "Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight."

"Not if you're human," Sam agrees. "But maybe this guy George was something else; some kind of creature, maybe, in human form."

"Does that look like a creature's lair to you?" Maria asks, gesturing up to the ordinary house. Sam and Dean turn to look at it and they both shrug. They walk up to the front door and Dean rings the doorbell. Mrs. Phelps answers the door and lets them inside after they show her their badges and tell her they need to ask her a few questions.

Once inside the house, Mrs. Phelps leads them into her living room. Sam, Maria, and Dean sit in three chairs across from Mrs. Phelps. Sam picks up a framed photograph from the coffee table and examines it.

"This is your late husband?"

"Yes, that was my George," Mrs. Phelps answers.

"And you said he was a…dentist?" Dean asks.

"Mhmm," she replies. "He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that…"

"How long were you married?" Maria asks kindly, hoping to avoid the waterworks.

"Thirteen years," Mrs. Phelps smiles slightly.

"In all that time, did you ever notice anything…strange about him, anything out of the ordinary," Sam asks her.

"Well…uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean," Mrs. Phelps offered. Sam, Dean, and Maria look at each other and stand up to leave, thanking the widow for her time. She shows them out and closes the door behind them. They walk down the front steps to the car.

"I mean it goes without saying. It just doesn't make any sense," Sam says to Dean and Maria once Mrs. Phelps is out of earshot.

"A middle-aged dentist with an ulcer is not exactly evil personified," Maria starts, but Dean finishes for her.

"You know what we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage."

"Okay, but if we're gonna go that route, we'd better look the part," Sam decides. They get into the car and head to Mort's For Style, a suit shop they had seen in town. They each purchase a cheap, but nice looking suit. Maria's is a suit with a skirt, and she is thankful that she remembered to shave her legs this morning in the shower. Being a hunter living on the road with her two brothers, shaving is almost never at the top of her to-do list. Dean, Maria, and Sam exit the store wearing their suits. Adjusting the clothing they aren't used to wearing.

"Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers," Dean complains.

"No, you don't," Maria tries to cheer her older brother up, but Sam has a different idea.

"You look more like a…seventh-grader at his first dance," Sam smirks. Dean looks down at himself, clearly uncomfortable. Maria smacks Sam across the back of the head.

"I hate this thing," Dean whines.

"Hey, you want into that warehouse or not?" Maria smiles.

They head toward the Impala and get in. They drive to the storage warehouse and get out of the car. They flash their Homeland Security badges to the security guard behind the desk. He examines them and nods, letting them in. The Winchester siblings walk into the large warehouse where the wreckage is being held. Dean pulls out a device from the inside pocket of his suit coat and puts the ear buds attached to it in his ears.

"What is that?" Sam asks, noticing the device his brother is holding.

"It's an EMF meter," he replies. "It reads electromagnetic frequencies."

"Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is, but why does that one look like a busted-up Walkman?" Sam asks.

"'Cause that's what I made it out of," Dean grins proudly. Maria smiles at the pleased look on her older brother's face, "It's homemade."

"Yeah, I can see that," Sam replies. Dean's proud grin disappears. Maria smacks Sam across the back of his head again.

"Be nice!" Maria hisses at Sam, who rubs the back of his head. Dean runs his homemade EMF meter over the emergency door handle of the wrecked plane that is covered in yellow dust. The EMF meter makes a noise and lights up.

"Check out the emergency door handle," Dean says, noticing the spike in the EMF. Maria scratches the yellow dust and some of it gets on her hand.

"What is this stuff?" she asks.

"One way to find out," Sam replies, scraping some into a bag. They freeze, suddenly hearing the sound of running feet in the distance. Sam quickly seals up the plastic bag and takes off running, Dean and Maria right behind him. Dean pulls the ear buds from the EMF out of his ears and hands the whole device to Maria, who shoves it into her jacket pocket. They slow down to a casual walk and peer around a corner, checking to see if the coast is clear. Once outside, they hear an alarm blaring. They run to the gated exit, Dean pulling off his jacket as he goes. He slings it over the barbed wire at the top of the fence and he helps Maria climb over. She is followed by Sam, and finally by Dean, who jumps and grabs his jacket off the top of the fence.

"Well, these monkey suits do come in handy," Dean states, then runs off, followed closely by Maria and Sam.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam, Dean, and Maria drive back to Jerry's office. Sam hands the bag of yellow dust over to Jerry. He takes it and puts a sample of it on a slide and looks at it through his microscope. The image he sees through the microscope is replicated on a screen.

"Huh," Jerry says, confused. "This stuff is covered in sulfur."

"You're sure," Sam asks.

"Take a look for yourself," he replies. There are banging noises coming from outside his office door, and a shout of 'you effin' piece of crap…' can be heard. Jerry rolls his eyes. "If you three will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire."

Jerry walks out of his office and leaves the door open slightly. Dean walks over to the microscope and looks into it.

"Hey. Einstein. Yeah, you," Jerry shouts from outside the office. "What the heck are you doing? Put the wrench down…"

"Hey, is that that hot little broad from earlier in your office," the idiot says loud enough for the three Winchesters to hear him.

Maria turns and stares at him. "I'd like to give her a piece of my-"

He stops suddenly as all three Winchesters are glaring at him now. Maria pulls out a knife she keeps hidden in her boot and flicks it open, waving it at him. The idiot turns away and quickly gets back to work. Maria smirks.

"Anyway…" Dean says as the siblings turn their attention back to the sulfur under the microscope. "You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulfuric residue."

"Demonic possession," Sam and Maria ask in unison.

"It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch."

"If the guy was possessed, it's possible," Maria states.

"This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup," Dean considers. "I mean, it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?"

"Either of you ever heard of something like this before," Sam asks his older siblings.

"Never," Dean and Maria chorus.

* * *

Dean, Sam, and Maria are in research mode. Maria is busy tacking more pictures and articles to the already mostly filled walls of their motel room. Sam is looking at an article on his laptop and Dean is reading a book on Sam's bed while sitting on his and Maria's bed.

"So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right," Sam asks his siblings. "I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it."

"Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this," Maria says, tacking the last article to the wall and sitting down beside Sam.

"Well, that's not exactly true," Sam corrects her, "You see, according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease."

"And this one causes plane crashes?" Dean asks, getting up, "All right, so, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?"

"Yeah; you know…who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one," Sam ponders.

Maria snorts and stands up, "What?"

"I don't know, Sammy. This isn't our normal gig," Maria says, "I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Daddy is here."

"Yeah, me, too," Sam says and Dean nods. Dean's phone rings and he answers it.

"Hello?" he says. Sam and Maria both look at their older brother. "Oh, hey Jerry. Wha—Jerry, I'm sorry. What happened…Where'd this happen?...I'll try to ignore the irony in that…Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon."

Dean hangs up his cellphone and looks at his siblings, grabbing his jacket.

"Another crash," Sam asks.

"Yeah; let's go," Dean replies, "It was Jerry's pilot friend Chuck Lambert. He was the pilot of flight 2485."

"Where," Maria asks.

"Nazareth," Dean replies. Sam and Maria grab their coats and head out toward the Impala. As they reach Nazareth, they can see black smoke in the near distance.

* * *

The Winchester siblings brought back another sample of yellow dust to Jerry's office. Jerry looks through the microscope once again.

"Sulfur." Maria asks, already sure she knows the answer. Jerry nods. "Well, that's great. All right, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him."

"With all due respect to Chuck," Sam begins, "if that's the case; that would be the good news."

"What's the bad news," Dean asks.

"Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight," Sam explained, "And get this, so did flight 2485."

"Forty minutes," Jerry wasn't following, "What does that mean?"

"It's biblical numerology," Dean explained, "You know Noah's ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death."

"I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in," Sam continued.

"Any survivors," Maria asked.

"No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason," Sam said. "On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP said?"

"No survivors," Dean and Maria chorused.

Maria thought for a second, then continued, "It's going after all the survivors. It's trying to finish the job."


	4. Chapter 4

Dean, Sam, and Maria are in the Impala, speeding down the road. It's dark out and Maria is on the phone, her fifth call since they left Jerry's office.

"Really?" Maria says into the receiver, using her sweetest saleswoman voice. "Well, thank you for taking our survey. And if you do plan to fly, please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks."

Maria hangs up and picks up the list of passengers and the flashlight from the empty seat next to her. She crosses off another name and hands everything to her younger brother.

"All right," Sam says, checking the list Maria just handed him. "That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway."

"They're not flying anytime soon," Maria finishes.

"So our only wildcard is the flight attendant Amanda Walker," Dean says.

"Right," Maria answers. "Her sister Karen said her flight leaves Indianapolis at 8 pm. It's her first night back on the job."

"That sounds like just our luck," Dean grumbles.

"Dean, this is a five-hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel," Sam states. "Or even with Maria behind the wheel, for that matter."

"Maria, call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass," Dean commands, but Maria just shakes her head.

"I already left her three voice messages. She must have turned her cellphone off."

"God, we're never gonna make it," Sam worries.

"We'll make it," Dean assures him, pressing down on the gas pedal and forcing the already speeding Impala to go faster.

* * *

The Winchester siblings run into the airport and stop to check the Departure board. Sam spots Amanda Walker's flight.

"Right there. They're boarding in thirty minutes."

"Okay, we still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone," Dean says, trying to keep calm. They rush over to the courtesy phone and Dean picks it up. "Hi. Gate thirteen…I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on flight..um..flight 4-2-4."

A voice comes over the PA system, calling for the flight attendant: 'Amanda Walker, Amanda Walker, you have a phone call. White courtesy phone, gate thirteen.'

"Come on," Dean says anxiously, then changes to a professional tone abruptly. "Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have Karen Walker here….Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so—You what?"

Sam and Maria exchange a worried look before turning their attention back to Dean, who was faltering.

"Uh, well…there must be some mistake," Dean says into the phone. Maria and Sam both walk to Dean's other side, trying to hear the other end of the conversation but to no avail. "Guilty as charged….He's really sorry….Yes, but…he really needs to see you tonight, so—Don't be like that. Come on. The guy's a mess. Really. It's pathetic….Oh, yeah….No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!"

Dean hangs up the phone and curses. Sam and Maria look at him curiously.

"Damn it! So close."

"All right, it's time for plan B," Sam says with finality. "We're getting on that plane."

"Whoa, whoa," Dean and Maria cry in unison, both wide-eyed.

"Now just hold on a second," Dean says, holding up his hands.

"Dean, Maria, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash."

"We know," they say together.

"Okay, so we're getting on that plane. We need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You two get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever will make it through security. Meet me back here in five minutes," Sam directs. Dean glances at Maria, then looks anxiously at his brother. Sam stares at Maria. She is looking straight ahead with wide eyes, seeing nothing. Her right hand reaches out to grab Dean's hand, but she catches his shirt instead and she clings to it.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks.

"No, not really," Maria's voice small and distant.

"What?" Sam is worried. "What's wrong?"

"Well," Dean answers for her and himself, "we kind of have this problem with, uh…"

"Flying?" Sam finishes. Maria jumps at the word and moves closer to Dean.

"It's never really been an issue until now," Dean defends himself and his little sister.

"You're joking, right?" Sam asks, disbelieving. He and his brother and sister had fought all kinds of terrifying creatures and they were afraid of airplanes?

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Maria hisses, her dark brown eyes now focused on her little brother, though she hasn't moved away from Dean.

"Why do you think we drive everywhere, Sam?" Dean adds.

"All right," Sam decides. "Uh, I'll go."

"What?" Dean and Maria snap.

"I'll do this one on my own," Sam clarifies.

"What are you, nuts?" Maria asks, taking a step toward her Sam but never loosening her grip on Dean. "You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash."

"Maria, Dean, we can do it together, or I can do this one by myself. I'm not seeing a third option here."

"Come on!" Dean complains. "Really? Man…"

* * *

Sam, Dean, and Maria sit in the airplane, anxiously awaiting takeoff. Dean is in the aisle seat, reading the safety card. Maria is in the middle seat, still gripping tightly to Dean's sleeve, reading over her older brother's shoulder. Sam is to Maria's left by the window. He's the only calm Winchester on the plane.

"Just try to relax," Sam soothes, leaning over to talk to Dean and Maria.

"Just try to shut up," Maria and Dean hiss in unison. As the plane takes off, Maria goes completely pale and closes her eyes, clutching at Sam's sleeve with her left hand and gripping harder to Dean's sleeve with her right. Dean jumps at every rumble and sound the aircraft makes. Sam just smirks at his older siblings.

A couple minutes into the flight, Maria opens her eyes and looks at Dean. They look at each other for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. They both lean their seats back and start humming to themselves. Sam looks over.

"You're humming Metallica?"

"Calms us down," Dean replies. Maria nods in agreement, her eyes closed again and mouth shut tight.

"Look, guys, I get you're nervous, all right? But you've got to stay focused."

"Okay," Dean and Maria agree in unison.

"I mean, we got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism."

"Yeah, on a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy," Maria says sarcastically, eyes still closed.

"Just take it one step at a time, all right?" Sam soothes. "Now, who is it possessing?"

"It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can worm through," Dean replies. "Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress."

"Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash," Sam reasons. "If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up."

"Mhmm," Maria and Dean agree. Dean turns to a flight attendant who is coming up the aisle and gets her attention.

"Excuse me. Are you Amanda?"

"No, I'm not," the flight attendant smiles.

"Oh. My mistake," Dean says, smiling nervously. The flight attendant continues walking up the aisle. Dean turns back to Sam and Maria. "All right, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state."

"What if she's already possessed?" Maria asks, finally opening her eyes.

"There's ways to test that," Dean answers. He opens up his bag and pulls out a bottle of water in the shape of the Virgin Mary. "I brought Holy Water."

"No," Sam says, snatching the bottle out of Dean's hands and tucking it inside his hoodie. "I think we can go more subtle. If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God."

"Oh, nice," Maria says, looking proudly at her little brother. She turns toward Dean and releases his shirt as he gets out of his seat. Dean turns to walk toward the back of the plane.

"Hey," Sam gets Dean's attention. He and Maria turn to look at their little brother.

"What?" Dean whispers. Maria's eyes shift to each of her brothers as they speak like she's watching a tennis match.

"Say it in Latin."

"I know," Dean turns to leave again.

"Okay. Hey!"

"What?!"

"Uh, in Latin, it's 'Christo.'"

"Dude, I know! I'm not an idiot!" Dean turns a final time and walks toward the back of the plane. The cabin quakes from the turbulence and Maria's grip tightens on Sam's sleeve. She closes her eyes again tightly.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

"I don't know, Sammy," Maria replies, eyes still shut tight.

"You need a barf bag or something?"

"No, I do not need a barf bag!" Maria hisses, opening her eyes to glare at her brother. "I can handle this, you know."

"Yeah," Sam scoffs. "It sure looks like it."

Maria pinches Sam's arm with the hand she's using to grip his shirt just as Dean sits down next to her.

"All right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet."

"You said 'Christo?'" Maria asks.

"Yeah."

"And?" Sam and Maria chorus.

"There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her."

"So, if it's on the plane," Sam begins, "it can be anyone. Anywhere."


	5. Chapter 5

The plane quakes again from the turbulence. Maria gasps audibly and grasps for her brothers' shirtsleeves, panicking. She's paler than ever. Dean stops her struggle to find his sleeve and grabs her hand instead, gripping it tightly in his own fear.

"Come on!" he exclaims. "That can't be normal!"

"Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence," Sam soothes his older siblings.

"Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating us like we're friggin' four," Maria snaps.

"You both need to calm down," Sam says quietly.

"Well, we're sorry, we can't," Dean says bitingly.

"Yes, you can."

"Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap. It's not helping," Dean replies.

"Listen, if you're panicked, you're wide open to demonic possession, so you both need to calm yourselves down. Right now," Sam says with quiet authority. Dean and Maria take a deep, slow breath. "Good. Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work. The Rituale Romanum."

"What do we have to do?" Maria asks.

"It's two parts," Sam replies. "The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful."

"More powerful?" Dean and Maria share a worried glance before looking at their brother.

"Yeah."

"How?" Dean asks.

"Well, it doesn't need to possess someone anymore," Sam replies. "It can just wreak havoc on its own."

"Oh," Maria is unconvinced. "And why is that a good thing?"

"Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell once and for all."

"First things first, we got to find it," Dean says, letting go of Maria's hand and getting up out of his seat. He takes out his EMF meter and puts the earbuds in his ears, walking up the aisle slowly. He gets no readings but plenty of strange looks from the other passengers. Sam suddenly claps him on the shoulder and Dean yelps.

"Ah! Don't do that."

"Anything?" Maria asks. She's standing slightly behind Sam in the aisle, gripping his hand tightly.

"No, nothing," Dean replies. "How much time we got?"

"Fifteen minutes," Sam checks his watch. "Maybe we missed somebody."

"Maybe the thing's just not on the plane," Dean answered hopefully.

"You believe that?" Sam asks incredulously.

"Well, I will if you will," Maria smiled up at her brothers. The siblings look down to see the EMF meter spiking. The co-pilot exits the bathroom and is heading back toward the cockpit.

"What? What is it?" Sam asks.

"Christo," Dean says, just loud enough for the co-pilot to hear. The man slowly turns around to face the three Winchesters. His eyes are jet black. The co-pilot turns back around and enters the cockpit. Dean turns to look at both of his younger siblings. They stare back at him with wide eyes.

Maria, Sam, and Dean walk quickly to the back of the plane. Amanda is still working in the back.

"She's not gonna believe this," Sam says.

"Twelve minutes, dude," Dean says worriedly. Amanda looks up at their entrance and smiles at them.

"Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope."

"Actually, that's kind of what we needed to talk to you about," Maria says. Sam closes the curtain behind them.

"Um, okay," Amanda is a bit confused. "What can I do for you?"

"All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'the truth is out there' speech right now," Dean begins, but Sam cuts right to the chase.

"All right, look, we know you were on flight 2485."

"Who are you three?" Amanda asks nervously.

"Now, we've spoken to some of the other survivors," Maria says. "We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't mechanical failure."

"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now," Dean finishes.

"I'm sorry, I—I'm very busy," Amanda tries to rush away. "I have to go back—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second," Dean says, stopping her. "We're not gonna hurt you, okay? But listen to me, uh…The pilot in 2485, Chuck Lambert. He's dead."

"Wait. What? What, Chuck is dead?"

"He died in a plane crash," Maria says. "Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?"

"I—" Amanda begins, but Sam interrupts her.

"Look, there was something wrong with 2485. Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too."

"Amanda, you have to believe us," Dean says.

"On…on 2485, there was this man. He…had these eyes," Amanda says quietly, remembering.

"Yes," Maria says, relieved. "That's exactly what we're talking about."

"I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?"

"Okay," Dean begins. "The co-pilot, we need you to bring him back here."

"Why? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Don't have time to explain," Dean says quickly. "We just need to talk to him. Okay?"

"How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the co-pilot—"

"Do whatever it takes," Sam tells her. "Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit."

"Do you know that I could lose my job if you—"

"Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out," Maria says, getting a bit impatient. Amanda hesitates a bit before answering.

"Okay," she says, leaving and heading toward the front of the plane. Sam pulls the holy water out of his jacket and hands it to Dean. Maria pulls out their father's journal from the inside pocket of her jacket and hands it to Sam, who opens it. Dean hands Maria the roll of duct tape he had in his pocket. The co-pilot slides back the curtain slightly and comes into the back of the plane where Sam, Dean, and Maria are waiting.

"Yeah, what's the prob—" he manages to get out before Dean punches him in the face and pins him to the floor. Maria leans over the co-pilot's face and puts duct tape over his mouth.

"Wait," Amanda panics. "What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him."

"We are gonna talk to him," Dean says, splashing the thrashing co-pilot with holy water. His skin sizzles and steams and he tries to scream, but the tape muffles the sound.

"Oh, my god," Amanda says. "What's wrong with him?"

"Look," Maria states, standing up and walking over to Amanda. "We need you calm. We need you outside the curtain."

"Well, I don't underst—I don't know—"

"Don't let anybody in, okay?" Maria continues, gently leading her toward the curtain. "Can you do that? Can you do that? Amanda?"

"Okay," Amanda jumps a bit, then heads toward the curtain. "Okay."

"Hurry up, Sam," Dean says, struggling to hold down the thrashing co-pilot as Maria rushes over to help her older brother. "I don't know how much longer we can hold him."

"Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino—" Sam manages before the demon breaks free of Dean and Maria's grips, kicking Maria backwards and hitting Sam and Dean until the older Winchesters manage to subdue him again. Sam picks up the exorcism where he left off, but the demon manages to knock Dean and Maria off again. The demon rips the duct tape off of his mouth and grabs Sam by the collar, speaking to him in a voice that echoes malevolently through the back of the plane.

"I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!"

Dean and Maria struggle in an entanglement of each other's limbs. The demon had knocked them against the far wall of the back of the plane and they landed in a heap. They manage to break free from each other and they both hit the demon. Sam just sits there, stunned.

"Sam!" Dean and Maria shout in unison. Their brother recovers and begins reading again. He finishes the first part of the exorcism and puts the book down, helping Dean and Maria pin down the demon. One of the demon's feet breaks free from Maria's grasp and kicks their father's journal through the curtain and up the aisle.

"I got him!" Sam shouts. The demon exists the co-pilots body in a cloud of black smoke from his mouth. It disappears into a vent. "Where'd it go?"

"It's in the plane," Maria says loudly. "Hurry up. We got to finish it."

The entire plane suddenly dips and then heaves violently a few times. Sam struggles through the curtain and into the aisle to retrieve the journal. Dean and Maria hug each other tightly as they are splayed against the exit door of the plane, screaming loudly. Sam grabs the journal from under a passenger's seat and reads the last part of the exorcism. An electrical charge goes through the entire plane before it levels out once more. Passengers ask if everyone is okay. Dean comes out from behind the curtain, carrying an unconscious Maria in his arms. Sam stands up and looks at his brother and then at his unconscious sister. He smiles.


	6. Chapter 6

Maria Winchester eventually regained consciousness, though it took her brothers and a small cup of water to help her. She awoke spluttering, coughing, and cursing Dean for splashing her. The plane landed safely back in Indianapolis less than an hour after the exorcism. Sam, Dean, and Maria disembark from the plane (Dean and Maria with shaky legs) and make their way through all of the uniformed agents. The co-pilot is being questioned by an FAA agent.

"Sir, can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't know," the co-pilot replies, sitting in a wheelchair with a shock blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "I was walking through the airport, then it all goes blank. I don't even remember getting on the plane."

As the Winchester siblings make their way through the airport, they see Amanda getting questioned by an FBI agent.

"Anything else?"

"No, that's all," Amanda replies. She sees Sam, Dean, and Maria standing across the way and mouths a 'thank you' to them. They nod to her.

"Let's get out of here," Maria says to her brothers, wanting more than anything to be back in the Impala and as far away from the airport as humanly possible. The siblings head for the exit, but Sam stops. "You okay?"

"Maria, Dean, it knew about Jessica."

"Sam, these things, they, they read minds," Dean says quickly. "They lie. All right? That's all it was."

"Yeah," Sam replies, not quite convinced.

"Come on," Maria and Dean say in unison, walking out of the airport and to the Impala.

Maria has never been more thankful for this car in her entire life. Not after the 3 day hospital stay after Jerry's poltergeist attacked her. Not after a particularly nasty date with a guy she needed information from. Never in her life has this car meant more to her. She ran over to it, although her legs were still a little weak after her fainting spell. She waited impatiently as her brothers came over to the car and Dean unlocked her door. She threw the door open and flung herself inside, landing face-first on the seat in the back. She breathed deep the scent of the Impala: the salty smell of blood and sweat, the sweet perfume of motel soap, the spicy scent of her brothers' aftershave, the cologne her father used when he was impersonating an FBI agent, the faint smell of cigars from the car's previous owner, and the leather of her father's jacket that Dean always wore. All of these scents mingled together into something that was home to Maria, Dean, and Sam. Sam and Dean got in the car and took deep breaths, too. They were glad to be home, too.

* * *

"Nobody knows what you three did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed," Jerry says, shaking their hands in turn. "Your dad's gonna be real proud."

"We'll see you around, Jerry," Maria says, smiling at him. The three Winchesters turn to go, but Dean turns around.

"You know, Jerry," he begins.

"Yeah?"

"I meant to ask you," Dean continues, "how did you get my cellphone number anyway? I've only had it for like six months."

"Your dad gave it to me."

"What?" Maria and Sam ask in unison.

"When did you talk to him?" Dean asks, intrigued.

"I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, you three," Jerry leaves his office and the Winchesters stare at each other, confused. They walk out to the Impala and sit on the hood.

"This doesn't make any sense, you guys," Sam says. "I've called Dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service."

Dean takes out his phone and dials their father's number. Maria comes to stand between her brothers and he turns the phone so Sam and Maria can hear. They all lean in as their father's voice comes from the other end: "This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 785-555-0179. Or my daughter, Maria. 785-555-5223. They can help."

Sam is fuming with anger as he slides off the hood and gets in the car. Dean and Maria share a troubled look before following their brother. They drive off, their hearts and minds heavy.


End file.
